18(i 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Fjeb. 



1(10 SWAUMS OF BEES, SOME ROUEX DfCKR, AND A 

 WHITE COOX BESIDES. 



Pa has 100 swarms of bees, and be raises and sells 

 i|ueen,s. My brother Hyron caught a white coon. 

 We have it for a pet. AVe have 9 big ducks. They 

 are called Kouen ducks. T. Palmkk IJi.ank. 



Woodville, Dhio. 



■ il° BELOW ZEKO; KEEPINCJ ItEES I -V A KH L IT-HOUSE. 



We have :?1 colonies of bees in the dooryard, and 

 a few weak ones in their hives in the fruit-house. 

 The therniometer marks si.v degrees below zero 

 now, and day before yesterday it was 24 below. Yes- 

 terday morning the thei-monieter wasIK^ below zero. 

 Hah.mon K. Hockett, age 11. 



.Inneslidi-o. Iiid., .Ian. :2I. ls.s.'). 



Now. my little friend Tlannon. you liave 

 told something that I just want to know 

 alunit— why will nt)t fniit-houses l»e just the 

 thing- to keep l)ees'::' Please let us know how 

 you winter. 



noS.VS BKOTHERS .\ND THE BEES. 



My brother had stands of bees in the spring, and 

 in the fall he had 14. >Ia and 1 helj) him to hive his 

 bees when they swarm. He has good luck with 

 liees. They don't tight him and sting him any. He 

 takes (i LEANINGS, and 1 like to read it. One of our 

 neighbors got him to take 11 stands of his bees. He 

 is afraid of them himself, but he likes the honey. 

 He will keep them for a share. 



Downs. III. KosA ('ritris. age 12. 



AV a: 



ms 



•a, and tuk r.'OO (■ 



liEES. 



)NIES 



1 am but a boy eight years old. .My name is Hay. 

 I go to school, and learn to read and write and spell, 

 and mornings and evenings I heli) my papa feed 

 the sheep and mules and cattle and pigs, and even- 

 ings I carry in the wood for my ma. In the sum- 

 mer 1 helj) my pa make sections and sash. Mj' pa 

 keeps about 20^ colonies of bees. 



.Vda. O., .Jan. 26, 1885. Uav .Mikkav. 



My gi aiKJpa has about 80 stands of bees, and they 

 make lots of honey. When they swarm, sometimes 

 they want to go away, and grandpa gets the queen 

 and takes off part of one wing, and then she stays 

 ;it home, and of course the rest stay with her. Per- 

 haps my nuimma will have bees some day, and I 

 will know more ab(mt them, and can write a better 

 letter. Dolly Obknshaix, age 9. 



MIooiiiington, III.. Jan. 26, 188,5. 



FKOM 40 TO 7.5, AND 1800 LBS. OK HONEY. 



My papa has 75 swarms of bees; he had 40 to be- 

 gin with last spring. Mamnui hived ',i swarms of 

 bees last summer. I'ajia buried some last fall. 

 Tliey are keei)iiig nicely this winter. He had 50 

 swarms once, anil they all died; but he got some 

 more. The bees made lSO(t lbs. of honey last sum- 

 mer. 1 pieced a (juilt on the machine. 1 have a 

 large doll. I wrote this letter all alone. I have 

 been to school for 8 months. 



r.iNNiE K. DoANE. age 8. 



Pipestone. .Mich., .Ian. 26, 1885. 



;now. itv 



HF.SrS( ITATING BEES FOUND ON 

 WAHMINO THEM. 



We Started with two swarms of hjbrids last 

 spring, and increased to si.\. Pajia found some ap- 

 l>arently <]ead bees on the alighting-boards of his 

 hi\('s. and brouglit fheni into the warm house, anil 



put them into an observatory hive, and many of 

 them revived, which proves Mr. Swinton's advit^e 

 about queens to be good. Papa set some boards u)> 

 in front of his hives, to keep the sun from shining 

 in and tempting them out these cold days. 



LuN.A^ A. Parkeh, age 12. 

 Lockport, X. v., Nov. 25, 1884. 



IM.ACl.NG THE ENTRANCE TO THE NOICI H, ETC. 



.My name is Edith Mindwell, and I have a brother 

 called Uoswell. We hp.\e a large raspberry-)iatcli 

 near the bee-house. I go to school, and I am in the 

 ton It li grade. Papa thinks his bees do better fac- 

 ing the north, winter and summer. 



K. M. Pheli»s, age U). 



(;alena, .Md., .Ian. 24. 1885. 



Perhai)s your ])a thinks that, by placinjj 

 the entrance to the north, the bees are not 

 so apt to tly out during unseasonable weath- 

 er. Is it not so, friend Edith V 



A CIHE FOR BEE-STINGS. 



My name is Koswell Phelps. I help my papa pack 

 his hoae.y, which he sent away in boxes. He bought 

 the bo.xes of you. I try to help my papa and mam- 

 ma a great deal. 1 know a cure for bee-stings. 

 When a bee stings you, suck out the i)oison, or get 

 some one else to do so. Koswei.l Phet-I's, ajj-e 7. 



Galena, Md.. Jan. 24, 188.5. 



Perhaps, my little friend IJoswell. sucking 

 out the poison, or trying to. won't do any 

 harm; but I believe I would rather let it 

 alone, and not do any thing after getting out 

 the sting. If one ?)n"(.s/ do something, how- 

 ever, I do not know but your I'emedv does as 

 well as any. ^1 



HATCHIN(i yi'EEN-CELLS IN .\N INCCBATOK. 



Last summer pa and I hatched queens in the in- 

 cubator while we were hatching chickens; and 

 when we had hatched all of them, pa made a (pieen- 

 incubator, and put it on top of a hive, and tilled it 

 full of queen-cells; and wlien a colony did not have 

 any queen we would take one out of the incubator 

 and put it in the hive. This nmy not be new to you, 

 but it may be useful to some of the other writers. 

 I hope the writers who have incubators will try it 

 ne.vt summer. Pa and I think it is a better way 

 than to let them hatch in the hive. 



Edgar Kennedy. 



Mont (lair. Hendricks Co.. Ind., Jan. 2;t, 1885. 



A LETTER EROM A LITTLE ORPHAN GIRL. 



I am a little orphan girl 11 years old. My home is 

 with Mr. Eli Reeves. He got me out of the orphan 

 home in Louisville. I call him papa. He has :il 

 stands of bees now. Last spi-ing he started out 

 with about 15. I think he forgot to keej) account of 

 the honey. I am very fond of honey. We don't 

 use any tobacco at our house, but papa smokes. I 

 am afraid of the little bees. I have been stung 

 some two or three times, but think I shall get used 

 toil. MaudP'uench. 



f'ayce. Ky., Jan. 26, 1;85. 



BEES, STRAWIIKRIUES, Tl'RKEYS, STEAM-ENGINES, 



ETC. 



My brother Christian keeps bees. He has ;{2 colo- 

 nies. My brother John has one colony. He paid 

 one dollar for it. He i)aid 10 cents for a queen-cell. 

 He gave me two frames of hatching brood. I sawed 

 out the boards for a hive. My brother Christian 

 nailed it together, so T have one colony. T jiacked 

 it outside with straw, inside with chaff. .Nly brother 



